This site has been created by
Bill Oehlke at
oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by
Bill. I am building a data base of collecting data so please send
species, date and location of any Sphingidae sightings to
Bill Oehlke.

TAXONOMY:

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copyright C. Odenkirk

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DISTRIBUTION:

Smerinthus cerisyi,
the One-eyed Sphinx or Cerisy's Sphinx, (wingspan approximately 95mm) closely resembles Smerinthus jamaicensis, and in northern
regions the two species overlap. Smerinthus cerisyi is found in the southern regions of all Canadian provinces (all of B. C. and Alberta)
and in northern border states south into northern Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio. The One-eyed Sphinx is also found along the U.S. west
coast to southern California, eastward to the Rockies and into western New Mexico north to western North Dakota. Specimens have also been taken in Illinois and as
far south as Missouri in central U.S.

This species has been taken in southeastern Alaska: Haines vicinity, Skagway, and in the Yukon.

At one time Smerinthus ophthalmica was treated as a synonym of S. cerisyi, but ophthalmica has been
resurrected to full species status (2010) and replaces cerisyi in most of the Pacific Northwest. I have moved many of the images and links previously on this
page to the ophthalmica file.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Here on Prince Edward Island, Cerisy's Sphinx is one of the earliest Sphingidae (both male and female) to
come in to lights, with most appearances occuring from early June to mid July from 10:00 - 11:30 pm. When we have an early spring, this
moth can be taken as early as mid May.

James P. Tuttle indicates he believes this species has only a single generation each year, although "the range of dates from farther south
is broadly skewed."

Smerinthus cerisyi is probably the Island's most common Sphingidae and
LIVESTOCK is readily available in the fall.

ECLOSION:

Little is known about the eclosions of the
earth pupators, but many believe pupae wiggle toward the surface just
prior to emergence.

Reared stock, stored in refrigerator
at 48 F from October until May, began eclosing nine days out of
storage at 68 F.

Moths eclose after dark, usually around midnight.

On the other hand, Robert Jindra has seen some Sphingidae emerge in
their subterranean chambers and then climb to the surface through
their original tunnel.
In June of 2012 Zana Goulding sent me a nice image of underside of a Smerinthus cerisyi male. Zana writes, "Hi Bill, found this one on the garage today, it
was too high up for me to get any real good shots. It did appear to have some sort of eye and pinkish color on the underwing; maybe 1.5 inches long in the body."

SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the posterior of the abdomen to lure in the night flying males. The male aligns himself at 180 degrees from
the female so that their heads are in opposite directions during pairing, which continues until the following evening.

Females, with a body girth much greater than that of males, will mate the same night as they have eclosed.

Resting males arch the lower third of their abdomens
upwards towards the thorax while females rest with the abdomen uncurled.

Both sexes rest with wings parallel to the plain of the resting
surface. Note the filiform antennae and "turkey baster" abdomen of the female, above.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Females have a relatively short tongue length of 5 mm and readily deposit all their eggs (100+) on the insides of
brown paper grocery bags or sandwich bags within 5 or 6 days without any feeding.

Spherical, pale green eggs are difficult to distinguish from other Sphingidae eggs.

Eggs, which are usually deposited singly or in pairs, incubate for six to eight days at 70 F and tiny larvae readily accept various species of willow and poplar.

One-two day old Smerinthus cerisyi courtesy of Tim Dyson.

Larval growth is rapid (3-4 weeks) on either
willow or poplar and this species
readily pupates under artificial conditions, i.e., dark enclosure, bottom filled with loose tissue
or paper towelling. Pupation usually occurs within 4 to 5 days.

CAPTIVE REARING TECHNIQUES:

Gravid females are readily taken
at lights and will oviposit (without feeding) on the insides of brown
paper sandwich bags. Reared stock also mates readily in captivity in
screen or hardware cloth cages so obtaining eggs is relatively easy.
Wild males also readily respond to calling, caged females. I move
gravid females to a fresh paper bag each evening.

After allowing the eggs a day or two to harden, I gently remove
them with my thumbnail to 414 ml (about 1/2 quart or 1/2 liter)
ziploc plastic tubs. I use a different tub for each
evening's eggs and record date on tub. I put no moisture in with the
eggs and snap the lids shut.
Larvae usually emerge in the morning 6-8 days
after deposition. The eggs can be left affixed to cut outs of brown
paper bag. No food is put in tubs until after larvae have begun
emerging. (Good idea not to have unhatched eggs in container
when inserting food).

A few poplar or willow leaves left affixed to twig
are placed in with emerged larvae. After two or three days of feeding, larvae are moved outdoors
to sleeved willow or poplar branches. I typically use six-foot-long, frass-slotted Remay sleeves
for cerisyi (25 larvae/sleeve).

Frass slot is located at lower end of sleeve and fastened shut
with a clothespin. The open end of the sleeve is tied shut with some cotton string after I have
placed the tiny larvae, still clinging to indoor feeding twig, inside the sleeve. The twig
is gently rested on upper foliage inside sleeve. Frass is removed as needed by
unclipping clothespin.

Instead of doing all the extra work of moving eggs,
now (2005) I cut a hole in the bottom of the brown paper (egg) bag and
thread a live poplar branch through the bag and out the hole (a day or so before eggs hatch)
and let the larvae crawl onto the foliage themselves. This all takes
place inside a remay sleeve over a poplar branch.

When larvae are nearly full grown or begin to leave foliage
(3-4 weeks) and crawl around on sleeve, I bring them indoors and put
them in 2-5 gallon clear plastic tubs with cut food. These larvae
have strong mandibles and desire to leave host to pupate underground
is so strong, that they will actually chew holes through Remay cloth
if not removed.

When larvae leave food in plastic tubs, I gently lift larvae and
place them in lidded buckets that have three or four layers of paper
towels on the bottom. Buckets are placed in warm, dark spots, and
pupation occurs in 4-5 days under paper towelling.

Tim Dyson (pupa image to right) uses a medium of leaf litter for pupation.
Various mixtures of peat, sand, soil, litter are also fine.

After pupae have hardened for several days, I place them side by side
on top of a few sheets of folded paper towels in same ziploc
containers I used for eggs. Here on P.E.I. cerisyi seem to
have only a single generation. Pupae are stored at room temperature
in lidded containers until they go in fridge in October for winter
storage. One or two drips/drops of water in the container at time of
entry to fridge is all the care that is needed over the winter. I
have a separate mini-fridge that I use for Sphingidae pupa storage
and keep temperature there around 40-45.